Viola Wine Cellars

Offers an amazing wine selection and FREE wine tasting events, usually on a Fri or Sat eve. Staff is not overly friendly. Whn asking for assistance; attitude and demeanor was more «chore obligated». Aside from this, our experience was incredible!
Cork offers a fabulous selection of wines, olive oils and chocolates. Their beer selection is limited, but, not so much that one cannot find an appealing ale to tk hm.
My party tk part in a Portuguese red tasting on a Fri eve beginning @ 5p. The experience was out-​of-​this-​world and host was super in providing background on all the wines.
We purchased two bottles of 2010 ARCO DO ESPORAO, two ales and a sm Eclipse chocolate bar-​Milk Chocolate w/​Cinnamon totaling $ 37.50.
Wines are priced from less than $ 10 on UP, UP, UP w/​the majority being in the center of the store averaging $ 20 – 30.
Cork is a definite MUST. We can’t wait to return!

Besides amazing wine — hands down some of the best balsamic vinegar on the planet.
On.The, Planet!
I really don’t think there’s anything you wouldn’t like — there’s something for everyone.
Besides — When you say «Cork– A Bottle Shop» it just rolls off the tongue and is kind of a happy phrase to say –
Try it with me:
«Cork — A Bottle Shop»
See? Now don’t you feel happier!
Parking is the pits, but where in Portland is parking fun?
Enjoy!

The aged balsamic is awesome and a good alternative to much pricier alternatives from Modena. Great on salads, as a complement to steak or with oil for dipping of bread.

If your a wine lover, get to know Darrel and Hillary. Nice shop, regular Friday tastings. Get on the WINE FINDS email list for great discounts. I have never been disapointed in their recommendations.
Oh — it you go– wear a sweaterm, or maybe a coat. This place is CHILLED for their wine.

And I say this with a staunch record of Heterosexuality … this store in fabulous.
Selection is off the charts for a small shop. Excellent variety of Brunellos’ and Piedmont wines. Even a great Cahors (which I bought all their inventory of). Good selection of PNW and Cali wine, but I did not look at closely. They have a shortcoming in late harvest /​desert wines. No big — don’t need the temptation. Oh yeah, good selection of the «best of the best» of micro brews bomber bottles.
Prices competitive. They also have a membership club card that gives you a discount, but I do not know if they charge for the membership. 5% off for 6 bottles or more for all customers. And its tax free… Washington State potholes and suffering schools be damned…
Very helpful staff. Not snobs. Even offered to take my case to my car (and I do not have the appearance of an invalid).
Although this gentrified hipster neighborhood is tight with parking, right next to the store is a 30 minute zone for 3 cars (who in the city council did they pay off for this?).
I’ll visit on all future trips to the PDX.

If you like wine (you do, don’t you?), you should join the cork club. Maybe it seems a little expensive up front, but you can go wine tasting with a friend every Friday once you join!!! Pretty neat, if you ask me! The people who do the tastings are super knowledgable without being intimidating. I feel like I learn a little bit each week and get to try awesome wines I would have never tried otherwise.
My one complaint is that it seems to cost the same for a married/​partnered couple to join as one unmarried person. I REALLY hate that. Really really.
Oh well.
The wines range in price, but there is a whole under 20 dollar section. They also carry a good number of Spanish wines, which I really appreciate.
Also, their other offerings — olive oil, vinegar, chocolate, speciality beer — are very high quality. Cheers to the good things in life!

Portland’s best wine shop. Wine is everywhere. But having someone who knows what you like is why we shop at local wine stores. Get to know Darryl and he’ll give recommendations to match what YOU like. We started going in 4 years ago and it is our favorite shop by far.

Nice local wines! Great place to enjoy a drink and chat!

Nice little wine shop that’s just a hop, skip and a jump away from home. I’m not a big wine drinker, but I was happy to see that they have a nice selection of craft brews. GF was excited to find that they sell olive oil in bulk. You just bring back your bottle and fill’er up.
The folks are coming for a visit next week and they do enjoy a good bottle of vino. I’ll be going back to Cork soon to stock up on the Cabs and Zins for our guests. In the meantime, I found an interesting Belgian style brew to taste test with the tenderloins I’m grilling this afternoon.
The proprietor was very friendly and more than happy to talk about her wares. They were having a big Labor Day sale and we had about 15 bucks knocked off our total. Good deal!

Great selections of wines in any price range, a wide variety of Champagnes and sparkling wines, and intoxicating chocolate top top it off. If you’re looking to please everyone on your dinner list, they also have beers, sake, and other crowd pleasers.
Though you may come here primarily for wine, they have an amazing selection of olive oils and a balsamic vinegar that’s to die for.

This was a fabulous little gem of a shop that we stumbled past on our walk back from NW 23^rd to the Pearl. We almost walked right past it but I couldn’t resist.
As it turns out we happened to set foot inside just as they were celebrating their anniversary, complete with a Chanteaunuf de Papes wine tasting! Woot! A French wine tasting?! I’m SO in. I never get to do fun stuff like this. Even at $ 20, we got to taste some pretty amazing bottles. In poor recesssion-​style taste, I even shared each pour with my friend and the NYW. They didn’t seem to mind my bad manners, but hey, we didn’t have $ 60 to shell out for 3 full tastings and lord knows I wasn’t about to taste while they sat around twiddling their thumbs. As a bonus, we were among some of the first to arrive and got to try some «bonus» tasting wine… a pour from a $ 130 bottle to finish out the set. Awesome. If I had to recommend one from the whole experience it was actually the Hillaire… ask about it. It’s not cheap, but it was exceptional.
Even if you’re not into French wines, or spending big bucks, this shop had something for everyone. Fancy olive oils and pastas, a whole shelf of designer handcrafted beers, and wines at every price point.

That chocolate and sparkling wine went good together.
Thank you.
I will definitely come back! :-)

I am glad that we have businesses like Cork in Portland. Every time I go, I enjoy it a little bit more. The staff is helpful and interested in making sure you find what you are looking for. They don’t turn their nose down at you for looking at wines under $ 20, as a matter of fact they are enthusiastic and excited to share with you the best buys.
In addition to being my new favorite place to pick up a few bottles of wine, I also started to visit their tastings. Now that I have two under my belt I figure I can give an honest review.
The tastings are enjoyable, especially if you bring a few friends along with you. You get to sample about 5 different wines for $ 10. The staff member pouring always gives you a little info about the wine you are going to taste. They also put out a small selection of cheese, crackers, salami and bread to help you better understand how the wine pairs with food.
If you are interested in learning about wine in a low key atmosphere this is a great little place to visit. Get on their mailing list and you’ll find out when the next round of vino will be poured.

Everybody has super powers.
I’m convinced. Really.
In fact I think people generally have three, four, or even five.
For example I know people who have the super power to _​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​:
«Pass Gas While Sleeping»
«Find Anything Their Spouse Loses Around The House»
«Write Incredible Reviews While Intoxicated»
«Walk Into Things That Aren’t Even In The Way»
«Make Even The Most Benign Comment Snarky»
«Be Totally Oblivious Of Everyone Around Them While Blocking An Aisle At The SuperMarket»
«Create And Live Within Entire Alternate Realities Super Imposed Upon The Existing World»
«Just Be Themselves»
Cork has the super power of «Being A Wine Shop Where Just About Anyone Could Find Something They’d Like»
For those with the power to «Turn Their Nose Up At Affordable Wines But Not Have The Coin For A Château Lafite Rothschild» special ordering a relatively «cheap» hundred something dollar La Spinetta Barbaresco Starderi might be your glass of vino.
People with the super power to «Only Buy Wines Under $ 20» or «Drink Only Oregon Pinots» will love the main center portion of the store.
Those who can «Live On Beer Alone» might be satiated by the whole corner to the right of the entrance.
Additionally those who «Get Excited About Even Informative Emails From Businesses» or «Love Wine Tastings More Than Life Itself» can also find fulfillment here.
And finally there’s a significant sweet section for those with the power to «Shop At Stores They Assume Won’t Have Anything They Like Just So They Can Complain About It Later». They may never admit to it, but never has a group of people been more in need of a seratonin boost.
I like visiting after using my power to make «La Bonita Carne Asada Burritos Vanish Instantly». In general I found the service, selection, atmosphere, and prices to be less than astonishing, but better than average. And hey since it’s close, I’ll indeed have to stop in for a tasting some time.
For «Warm Friendly Unpretentious Wine Values» visit Vino in Sellwood. For «Ridiculous Selection At Great Prices» Liner & Elsen in the NW. But if your in the NE Cork’s «Being A Wine Shop Where Just About Anyone Could Find Something They’d Like» definitely makes it an option worth considering.
btw What’s your super power?
pictures taken with my power to «Photograph Shops Without Anyone Noticing»

So I was crunching my brain wondering whatever I would bring to this holiday family shindig of my beau’s when I suddenly remembered the hosts are frequent shoppers of this establishment! Cork is saving me face because I know I can go in there tomorrow, and they can tell me what wine the host’s favor the most. Just one of the services they provide to their customers. BRILLIANT!

It’s no secret: I’ve got people to shop for. And lately, I’ve not been the penultimate gift-​giver (echo microphones, anyone?). So when it came down to it, this certain set of receivees needed something nice. After brooding and more brooding, I thought that a wine and chocolate pairing could be perfection.
Of course I knew this because I had been to a few Unilocal-​a-​riffic chocolate and wine tastings. With Moonstruck Chocolate. After confiding in BB, she told me that Cork had chocolate that was even BETTER than Moonstruck. Dubious, I went on over.
The chilly and small area is set up perfectly to host lots and lots of wine. I’d done a little online research about doing your own wine and chocolate pairings, but I thought it would be best to get a second opinion.
I told the gal there what sort of a budget I was looking at ($ 50-​$ 60 for two bottles and two sets of chocolate), and she immediately went for the Cabs and the Syrahs. Perfect! Two different gifts. Then she tried to explain to me the complexity of the flavors and how they’d meld with chocolate.
I was hoping to walk away with some of their pretty gold-​dusted truffles, but her recommendation was rather to get a bar (they’re steep! think $ 7-​$ 11 for a chocolate bar) because its solidity and smoothness would pair nicely with the red wines. Even then, I had a hard time choosing because they have such a selection. They even sell bulk olive oils!
At the end, though, I had two nice gifts that stuck to my budget. They even gift-​wrapped them!
And, I dragged my mom along, and she ended up leaving with some Chocolove and a bottle of Bitch wine. Now you know where I get it…

So my cherry was popped here. Twice. Now before you start thinking dirty things, I just mean that I had my first wine tasting here and my first taste of sherry here.
The wine tasting was only $ 12. This included a total of 6 different kinds to warm you up since for obvious reasons, it is cold in there. Tasty snacks are included with the price as well. Things I enjoyed were the crackers, brie, and almonds. If I remember correctly, there were two other types of cheeses too.
This was a much larger establishment than I was expecting. There is, of course, a huge wine selection with a corner for different beers and a corner for different chocolates. I was very tempted to get this large brick of milk chocolate for a reasonable price since it is an import. However, I refrained. I may just have to make a special trip back to get it! There are descriptions under most of the wines and beers which was very helpful. Not to mention the guy who was pouring the wine for the tasting almost had –too– much knowledge about the each bottle of sherry.
I’m looking forward to coming back here for a different tasting. I haven’t had much wine so it is nice to have a selection picked for you to try!

Cork is a perfect manifestation of a lovely concept that I’ve always dreamed of: many many many bottles inexpensive, quality wines & a place where you can come for wine tastings or even schedule & a place that will let you create a unique private party/​event where the main focus is wine!
There several scheduled wine tastings a month — sometimes paired with food or chocolate, and always with an interesting theme. Cork is spacious and unpretentious. Shop for bottles of wine either by region or price (three cheers for the «under $ 15» section!).
Sign up for their e-​newsletter to find out when and what tasting you can expect to enjoy.

Decent selection of wines in the «mostly under $ 20 a bottle» selection, which puts them solidly into my wine price range & budget (cheap). I’ve yet to get a bad bottle here.
They feature over 100 bottles of hand selected wines from around the world for under $ 20, with an added selection of over 300 more special wines. Most wines are from France, Spain, Italy, Argentina, Portugal, California and our lovely Northwest.
A nice Alberta Street addition, I like Cork mostly due to the affordable bottle selection and the friendly helpful employees who don’t make me feel like a moron when I ask such questions as «I’d like a nice, soft round red», in reference to a $ 10 bottle of wine :-)
They have a nice selection of gourmet chocolates and other little asides in the back. They have specialty items for the foodies, like olive oils, vinegars, pasta, and other delights. You can also rent Cork for special events.
I appreciate the invitations to wine tastings and while I’ve yet to go to one (I will), it’s nice that they are hosting such events and getting plugged into their Alberta community.

Besides the usual stuff, I also like: the reasonably priced tastings that are never mundane; the yummy chocolate corner; the fun, interesting, & educational weekly newsletter; their efforts to give back to the community, for example, with donations from the sale of their Alberta Pinot Blanc.